LEXINGTON, N.C. — The Lexington Fire Department said Captain Ronnie Metcalf died Friday morning. He had serious injuries after responding to a fire earlier this week.
WFMY News 2's Nixon Norman spoke with a former firefighter, about how first responders rally around each other during difficult times.
The death of a firefighter in Lexington has sent shockwaves through fire departments across the Triad and the state.
"The brotherhood and sisterhood in the fire service is… universal," Retired Battalion Chief with Greensboro Fire Department, Larry Cockman said.
Cockman knows about that brotherhood well.
"We spend a third of our lives together, we spend our day off together, you know, just within the fire department family, we become close." Cockman said.
Metcalf spent nineteen years of his life serving and protecting the people of Lexington.
We spoke with Lexington Fire Chief Paul Jarrett earlier this week. He told WFMY News 2 he's been there from the beginning of Metcalf's career in Lexington, working side by side for each one of those nineteen years.
"You'll never find anyone with a bigger heart than he has. He's always there to help whoever needs help. There's a lot of support for him a lot of care and a lot of love for him and that's good for him and the family," Chief Jarrett said.
Metcalf had been in the hospital fighting for his life for days after he got trapped in a house fire and had to be rescued by fellow firefighters.
Cockman says times like these, as tragic as they are, tend to bring departments closer together. He stresses the importance of keeping the memory of fallen firefighters like Metcalf, alive.
"It's human nature for all of us, any human being, to want to be liked and not forgotten, so in the fire services, it's even more prevalent… We don't want to forget our brothers and sisters that have passed," Cockman said.
Cockman says forgetting is something he, and others who understand, are incapable of doing, "It's something that you carry with you to your grave."